| Show BEHIND THE WAR IN CHINA v japanese seek new W wealth balth they failed to find in in Manchu kuo chinese are not yet read ready y for unified resistance et 4 buter Y I 1 1 aa JAP aly geow 2 J ti iffa T U YU ya 0 I 1 PS jr 77 n 70 X L ilan ka r circled on the map above are the five north china provinces which may be the next step in japanese expansion by WILLIAM C UTLEY APAN is an ambitious nation and a needy one her ambition i is the governmental and economic leadership of asia or at least eastern asia her needs are territory for an ever ex banding population raw materials that her own islands cannot produce in sufficient quantity markets for her manufactured goods and adequate defense against her enemies this is why you read every few years or even every few months of a new war scare in north china sometimes it is not merely a scare but an actual war even as today whether war has been officially declared or not always upon the chinese who oppose her gradual expansion japan wreaks a vengeance which to us across the pacific often seems all out of proportion to the aggression committed by opposing her but after each of these retributions she is found when the smoke and flames clear away to have assumed domination or even actual control over one more piece of territory just how much more her influence will be extended after the present conflict has died out it is impossible to say indeed that may depend upon the degree of opposition she meets if the chinese national government at under the dictatorship of gen chiang kai shek decides to let the twenty ninth army carry the main ma n burden of defense japan will probably emerge with nothing more than an extension of control to cover the neiping area and part of the province of if however a china now more united than at any time since the downfall of the manchu dynasty decides to come en masse to the aid of the twenty ninth army japan may attempt to punish china to terrible degree successful in this japan would probably extend her dominance throughout all the five northern provinces and virtually all of china south of the yellow river valley japans westward march if chiang kai shek does throw the full strength of china at japan it will be a f ight fight to the death for the japanese are full of that strange oriental pride which permits no loss of prestige they will fight china to the bitter end before they will submit to a compromise on their demands death before dis dishonor honorl is more than a slogan with them it is a law of nature as inexorable as the law of gravity the fighting in north china today is but another step in japans westward march earlier steps were those which resulted in control tantamount to annexation over the chinese brov provinces inces of manchuria and dehol for a short time tir ne after those steps were taken japan marked time strengthening her hold upon these provinces and fortifying fortu ying her front against russia the eternal enemy Manchu kuo was supposed to open up vast new and desirable horizons japans population of was growing at the rate of a year her people needed more room and more raw mate rials since 1931 she has poured investments totaling yen into the puppet state some results were forthcoming soy beans and chemicals slight increases in iron ore and coal and a good increase in oil shale but these fell far short of Nip pons hopes Manchu kuo was supposed to open up a great afew market for japanese manufactured goods but the increase in exports to the united states for 1935 over 1934 was equal to one third of the total exports to Manchu kuo As a new home for japanese colonists Manchu kuo was pretty much of a flop less than japanese live there today it was apparent that japan could not in pursuing her hegemonic policy continue marking time for very long in north china were larger fields for her exports in addition the area was that much closer to the great 6 reat market of china proper so the japanese began to cast covetous eyes upon which includes the cities of neiping and which lies between mong mongolia olia and Manchu kuo shuiyuan Sui yuan shansi and shantung they penetrated peacefully to be sure through and until these two became practically self governing states anti japanese spirit grows in horeis eastern countries japanese ja P influence blossomed into a virtual protectorate but when it reached a certain point japans peaceful invasion was halted with the rise of chiang kai shek the chinese were developing a new unity ali although hough the they y were not nearly so unified as our states are for instance yet the anti japanese spirit was becoming more widespread and more open it probably culminated in the skirmish between chinese and japanese at marco polo bridge the incident which gave rise to the present grave crisis it is assumed by many observers in the far east that the incident was seized upon by nippon as an excuse for further japanese invasion inva on the pretext of retaliation which would extend japanese control over the five north china states and even to the south eventually others contend that japa japans ns immediate objective is the strengthening of her grip on and yet it cannot be overlooked that I 1 the other three provinces hold rich prizes for T toiyo okyo shansi contains more than half of all the coal in china the other northern provinces are capable of great c otton cotton production for japanese industries and for the manufacture of gunpowder so essential to a militant nation japan once imported the bulk of the cotton crop of china which is third in the worlds production but china began to restrict her cotton exports to japan and left the latter in a bad way and are extremely important to japans military strategy for they would act as an efficient buffer along the left flank of her asiatic front greatly strengthening her position on the mainland on the other side of these provinces lies mongolia the terrain of shuiyuan and partly included in the gobi desert is wild and difficult and without satisfactory transportation facilities it would take only a small well trained japanese army to pre vent penetration by the russians and to prevent the spread of communism further the japanese in possession of these two provinces could then put an end to their use as a base for communist guerilla warfare against Manchu kuo and je hol railroads Kail roads key to control on the peninsula of shantung are the rich yellow river valley and the ports of chefko and Tsing tao with and shansi shantung forms the transport transportation atio center of north china in possession slon of the peninsula japan would be in a position to control the gulf of chihli and the yellow sea key to domination of C hina china i is its railroad system who controls the railroads can control the territory they serve it may be seen upon the accompanying map how the railroads railroad of north N orth china radiate from the area about neiping and once japan is in complete control of this area her influence could follow the rails to the important city of kalgan calgan in and from there to in sui yuan into the southwest over the neiping bankow railway to shih klac kiachiang hiang and southern and to in shansi southward from to Tsang chow and across the yellow river to ksinan thence southward again to itself and eastward to the port of Tsing tao these railroads in addition to one across H from Tsang chow to Shih kiachiang which the japanese wish to build if they can get the permission of china are of tremendous military importance As As this is being written gen cl chiang aang kai shek is faced with a decision that china has had to make again and again since the japanese awakened to the necessity for expansion shall he declare open warfare against japan or shall his national government continue to make feeble protests while the local troops of the north defend their country ineffectively as they are wont to do local chinese forces in alope and are not equal to the task of repulsing the japanese even though every last man is ready to lay down d ow n his life probably he will decide to let the japanese have what they want just as they took what they wanted in manchuria and dehol 0 western newspaper union |
